A Difference

While the offices aren't quite on the same level, it is noteworthy to see how the press covered the nomination and subsequent election of Barack Obama and the insurgent recall candidacy of California governor hopeful Larry Elder.

I'm 2007 the press hammered home that Obama was the first black candidate from a major political party. Never mind that Alan Keyes ran for the Republican nomination in 1996, 2000, and 2008. Obama was a first when he accepted the nomination back in 2008. In rereading some of the coverage from that time, and especially on the day he was nominated, it was quite obvious the media was over the moon.

Wisconsin Republicans Hold Majority

Good news from Wisconsin as the Republicans were able to hold onto the majority in the state legislature. Democrats were able to take two of the six seats up for recall, one short of what was needed to switch the majority.

By-the-by, here is a flow-chart from the MacIver Institute showing where the liberal/progressive/democrat money came from to support these recall elections. BTW, the MacIver Institute did an absolutely bang-up job of covering the whoe Wisconsin public unions meltdown last winter. If you want to review, you should spend some time there. They also do a pretty good job of showing the savings that have occurred since Gov Walker was able to get the bill passed.



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(h/t: Michelle Malkin).

There are some estimates that as much as $30 million was spent by democrat supporters.

Recall Elections in Wisconsin

These recall elections bear watching. There are six Republican seats in the Wisconsin Legislature that are up for a recall election. The recalls were initiated after Governor Walker implemented new rules for state employee unions. The reasoning behind Gov Walker’s actions were to curb spending and gain a little control of the state budget. The state employee unions responded with massive protests over a two week period last winter. Once the budget was approved, several democrat activist organizations initiated recall proceedings.

It is estimated that $25 million has been poured into these recall elections from out of state advocacy groups. The largest share, possibly as much as $20 million, has been for democrat candidates.

Hopefully, the people of Wisconsin will not let the austerity measures that were necessary influence their decisions. Wisconsin and many other state governments are in a very tight spot as spending has been out of control for many years at all levels of government. If the good folks of Wisconsin reject Walker’s initiatives to curb spending, I don’t know what direction the state is going to move.

The saddest part of all this was that the progressives and democrats were able to grab the narrative in large part due to the sympathetic coverage from the media. Outside those immediately impacted (i.e. public unions), reigning in the public sector union’s power really should be a no-brainer. If people were really able to sit back a study the situation, I think there is no way they would support the public unions. On average, most public sector employees have significantly better pay and benefit programs than those who work in the private sector.

Public sector employees should have never been allowed to organize in the first place. When your employer is the public, there is no way a group of people should be able to hold the taxpayer hostage in their desire for more power and money.

Dupnik Recall Efforts

Seems some of the voters in Pima Cnty, AZ are a little fed up with Sheriff Dupnik’s. As you will recall Sheriff Dupnik fired one of the salvo’s against the conservative movement when he tried to pin the shootings in Arizona on the Tea Party and the supposed rhetoric.

I think this is a good call. While Sheriffs do run as part of a political machine, they must at all times remain above the political morass. They should not delve too far into politics while holding the office of Sheriff. Sheriff Dupnik not only crossed that line, he completely obliterated the line. Those who hold more traditional/conservative views are not going to feel that a Sheriff with a political agenda is going to treat them fairly. So a recall must happen. But there is a concern that I have. The organization that is sponsoring the recall is decidedly right leaning as they are strongly in favor of immigration control, especially along the Arizona – Mexico border. They might struggle to get the number of signature on the recall petition if the supporters of Dupnik are able to mount a solid anti-recall drive by trying to exploit the political leanings of Americans Against Immigration Amnesty.